Reporting For Duty
by AcaciaDawn
Summary: Lt. Shane Wolfe is ready for just about anything, except the G.I. Joe Sergeant McGraff who comes to assist with the kids. The Army dog is practically family to the kids, but there's something about the anomaly that is Clarissa McGraff that may just be his undoing. But then again, Shane's never been one to back down from a challenge. May be lemons later on. Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One~ Newcomer**

"Don't worry about a thing, Mrs. Plummer. I'll make sure the kids are as safe as possible. Scout's Honor." Lieutenant Shane Wolfe stated as he was walking his old buddy's widow to the door.

"Thank you again, for doing this, Shane. I know it's not exactly a typical job for a S.E.A.L."

"Like I said, don't worry about it."

"Oh, before I go, I should probably mention Sergeant McGraff coming in. I haven't told the kids yet, but don't be surprised if you hear a very large amount of screaming in a few hours." She was making sure she had everything at the same time as talking, so it was a bit harder for him to understand what she was saying, but he got the gist of it. Another G.I. Joe coming in to help take care of the kids…just what he needed, some regular idiot guy coming in and getting in the way.

"I'll make sure the situation is seen to." Shane informed her right before she walked out of the door to go catch her flight.

With that out of the way, time for boot camp to start up.

**A few hours later.**

Shane was out back, looking over the grounds to make sure the perimeter was secure, when he heard a loud bang and shouts of the children. He ran inside only to hear Red One (Zoe) yell.

"Clara's here!"

There was mass confusion surrounding the new figure at the door, and Shane couldn't get a good look at the guy.

"HEY! Cadets, fall in!" he shouted over the hysteria that was building at the doorway. Immediately, they backed off.

In the entryway, stood not some string-bean of a Joe cowering at the sound of his voice like he thought, but a G.I. Jane standing tall and raising an eyebrow at him. She was obviously unfazed by his tone. She wore the standard Army outfit: green shirt tucked into loose camo pants and tan combats laced up tight, her hair in a military bun, but with a few wayward strands flopping into her eyes.

"I don't believe we've had the honor of being introduced, Mr…" she had a slight southern accent.

"Lt. Shane Wolfe, ma'am." He stretched out his arm, offering his hand, which she took in a strong grasp. Not strong like a man's, but strong enough to instill that she wasn't the type of person to back down.

"Lt. Wolfe, I'm Sgt. Clarissa McGraff, David's best friend since grade school. As you probably heard from the kids though, most people just call me Clara. It's nice to meet you Lieutenant."

"You too, Sgt. But, I must admit…I wasn't exactly expecting…well, what I mean is, the way Mrs. Plummer made it sound…"

Clara just chuckled. "It's alright, Lt. I understand if you thought I was supposed to be a guy…I actually get that a lot. When people hear about me, for some reason, they think I'm just a regular Joe. Holly was probably in a rush to go when she told you though, so I'm not surprised if she forgot to mention it." Then she turned to the kids, "So, anyone wanna show Auntie Clara where she'll be sleepin'?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the children were on her, Red Three (Lulu) tugging at her hand.

"You can sleep in my room, Auntie Clara."

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Lulu. But I'm pretty sure you'd just get tired of my snorin'," she made a snoring sound that made them all break out in laughter.

"C'mon, Clara," Red One (Zoe) took charge, "the spare guest bedroom's up here."

"Spare?" Clara turned and looked over at Shane, "I didn't know we were gonna be havin' company."

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's just the babysitter," he heard the oldest girl whisper. Then they turned and disappeared up the stairs, the other kids following close behind.

Shane rubbed his hand over his face, "This is gonna be a lotta work."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two~ Singin' in the rain.**

Clara POV

Ok, so she had no qualms about sharing a house with a guy she didn't know…hell, she was probably more comfortable in that kind of situation than any guy, seeing as she shared living quarters with her entire team. No, it was the fact that she was sharing a _bathroom_ with the Lt. that she was worried about. See, the only two guest rooms in the house were right next to each other and connected by a bathroom. So when she went to put away her things, she saw that the counter was already taken up by various masculine products.

_Jeez, and I thought the girls back in high school had a crap-ton of stuff._ Clara decided to just keep her personal toiletries in her room until such a time when they were needed. And since she had already eaten on the way to the Plummer house, she made up her mind to go ahead and grab a shower before the kids decided to start circling her again. Just after Clara had stepped under the spray of the shower and started washing her hair, there was a knock on the door adjoining to the Lt.'s room.

"Come on in," she called, tipping her head back under the spray to rinse off.

"Beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but…uh, I just needed to take care of some things."

Clara chuckled, squeezing conditioner into her palm. "Well, sir, you just go on ahead and do that. By all means, be my guest."

Shane POV

_OhGodohGodohGodohGodohGodohG odohGod…_this was the genius military mind of Lt. Shane Wolfe. Suffice to say that he was freaking out. Damn, why did this woman have to be so ok with him being in the bathroom with her naked and dripping wet behind the shower curtain? Between that, the steam, and the scent of her shampoo, it was a surprise to even himself that Shane wasn't passed out on the cool tile floor.

_Well, it might have something to do with the fact that she probably shares living quarters with a bunch of guys anyway._

Little did he know that this supposedly unaffected woman was secretly freaking out behind the scenes.

Clara POV

He was still in there, she could tell. He was being quiet, but Clara could feel him moving around the bathroom. Of course, she was extremely glad that there was a curtain between them, but, when it came down to it, even that wasn't much of anything. Clara was getting all hot and bothered just thinking about it. There was no way this was gonna be a simple couple of weeks, but hopefully she could find some way to keep out of his way. The Sgt. had been told that he was in charge of the kid's safety, so more than likely she would just be the entertainer, which she had no issue with, since Clara loved the kids like they were her own flesh and blood. It helped that she hadn't talked to her own family in years…certain issues made sure of that.

"Ma'am?" his voice pulled her out of her train of thought. She hadn't realized that he had been talking to her.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, Lt., what is it?" She suddenly noticed that the water was getting very cold, so she turned it off. "I was off in La-La Land."

She could hear him chuckle. "I was just asking if you knew anyway to get the soldiers to listen instead of just doing the exact opposite of what I order.

"Could you hand me that towel on the counter?"

Shane POV

He almost did a double-take. What had she just asked him?

"Lt.? Are you still out there?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He reached behind him and held the towel up to the edge of the shower curtain.

The curtain parted just enough for him to see the end of her hair as her soaking arm peeked out from the shower. "Thanks," she grabbed it and pulled her arm back. "Um, would you mind discussing this in a moment…you know, after I dry off and get dressed?"

_God damn, that was hot…wait, WHAT?! What the hell is wrong with me?_

"Of course, ma'am. I didn't mean to intrude." He made his way back to the door, opening it and stepping through, to get away as fast as possible. Only to realize that he was not in his room. He had gone through the wrong door. Shane turned around to go back through, and was met by the sight of a dripping wet woman stepping out of the tub with a towel wrapped tightly around her torso, holding it up with a hand at her breasts.

_Holy hell…_the normally stoic S.E.A.L. was suddenly _very_ aware of the fact that he was a man, as his eyes drifted up and down her form of their own accord.

Then, her face turned bright red and the army dog of a woman squeaked. She jumped out of the tub, grabbing him by the shirt collar, maneuvering so that she was in the doorway of her bedroom, and he was in the bathroom. She then pushed him back, muttering a quick sorry, and then promptly slammed the door in his face. Shane stood there for a moment, trying to gain motor control of his body and put his head in order, before he turned and practically stumbled through the correct door.

He sat on his bed and dragged his hand over his face and head. _Well, this has been an interesting advancement in my situation…God, I wonder what was hiding under that towel…DAMN IT, MAN, SHUT THE FUCK UP! _His mind yelled, and he decided to go to sleep before his mind came up with anymore brilliant things to run create unwelcome images (well, sort of. There was the matter of the fact that he was a man. And damn if that woman didn't get to him…and he'd only known her for about two hours). Oh, yes. This was definitely going to be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three~ First Day**

Clara POV

0400 Hours

This was the life. Waking up in a soft, warm bed, being able to take one's time getting up and getting ready (as oppose to getting yelled at by one's staff sergeant to "get your ass moving, we're wasting daylight!") and just being able to take it easy.

And by take it easy, Clara meant getting up, doing her stretches, then going outside in the sweet autumn predawn air and going for a little five-mile run before hitting the training room. Of course, it made it all the better that she could pull out her ipod and run to the beat. You can't do stuff like that in the army. She was only on mile two, after fifteen minutes (she was taking it easy since she was on holiday…sort of), and she felt ready to take on a damn rhinoceros.

Her blood was pumping, her muscles pulling and releasing, and her breath coming even, in-out, in-out. It was exhilarating; this feeling of strength and power in one's body, and it was something that Clara never got used to. She had never been one for sports growing up, but when she was a senior in high school, hearing all the things the recruiters were saying, she started to wonder. That feeling got stronger when she told her friends at the lunch table and they kept telling her she wouldn't make it.

Five miles done, time to make good use of David's training room in the basement.

She did. The first thing she did after basic training got out and she had been accepted, was go home and go out with her friends to share the good news. But there had been one person who wasn't so happy that she had made it. Lyonal Marcus. The guy she'd had a thing for since forever. Clara had thought he was her friend, but he was the one who was strongest against her going into the military. And when he had found out the she was planning on it, he made a point of joining just so he could laugh in her face later.

Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, weight-lifting, punching bag…the punching bag was the best. The only problem was that she was so used to doing all of these things that she didn't even have to think about them anymore.

When Lyonal had found out that night that she had managed to get in, he went on a drunken rampage. He had gotten thrown out because of his attitude, court marshaled, if you will. By the time she had told them, he had already consumed two or three beers and a couple of shots, and _damn_ was he mad. Clara had been so happy and excited to be back home with her friends that she didn't even notice Lyonal getting more and more frustrated by the second.

_Thwack! Tap-tap-thwack! Breathe, in-out, in-out. Hit, hit, hit. Harder, faster, COME ON, YOU WEAKLING!_ The bag was starting to swing a bit harder from the blows landing on it.

She hadn't realized how angry he was, but it was a good thing she never drank outside of the house. She was always the designated driver at parties. But even drunk, Lyonal was silent as a house cat, but that was the only training he'd managed to pick up from basic.

He snuck up on her. She had been about to get in the car when he came up behind her and slammed it shut. He had her pinned against the door and breathed in her ear.

"You think you're so good, don't you sweetheart? Well?! Huh, you think you're better than me, think you're so much smarter than me because you managed to survive hell-week. Well, let me tell you somethin', sweetheart, you're gonna wish you had never even heard of that damn ASVAB test, or that fucking recruiter. I bet you were bangin' with one of the staff sergeants, huh? Maybe more, hmm, sweetheart? That's the only way a piece of trash like you could have ever survived it. Well, then, why don't you show me some of those moves you used on the dudes. I think I like that idea." He had been completely unaware of her pleads and denials, the way she shook her head. Then she had tried to get away, and-

"Hey." Clara swung around and would have clocked the Lt. in the jaw if he hadn't managed to block her swing and hold onto her when she tried to fight him.

She had been so far into the memory that she hadn't realized who it was that was behind her. For a moment, she was back in that dark, dingy parking lot, trying to run away from the drunkard, tripping over her heels…then she was pulled out the memory. It wasn't Lyonal that had a death grip on her wrist, trying to pin her down. It was the Lt. holding her just barely hard enough to keep her from taking another shot at him. Her vision seemed to flicker between times for a moment, before settling back into the present.

Clara gasped, "Oh, Lt. Sorry, I was off in-"

"La-La Land again? I kinda figured that. You were pretty damned focused on that punching bag there for a little while. It kinda looked like you were tryin' to fight for your life for a second."

"Huh? Oh, no, I was…just, y'know…thinkin'. I guess I got kinda caught up in the…y'know…" she started pretending to punch an invisible object in front of her.

Shane chuckled, "Yeah, I know what you mean." He looked her up and down. "So, how long you been up?"

"0400. Normal time for me. If not, I end up getting yelled at by my staff sergeant, and believe me, that is not a pretty sight."

"Ah. Well, I figured that since we didn't get to finish our conversation last night…" Clara didn't fail to notice the faintest red starting to spread up the Lt.'s neck and ears. "Well, you know what I mean. I was wondering if you knew of any way that I might be able to get them to actually do what I say rather than just either ignoring me or being complete pains in the ass and doing the opposite."

"Well, as long as you don't intend to use that sort of language around the children. I can just hear their mother now, wondering where her precious little babies learned such vulgar words." A Cheshire grin started to form on her face.

"What? Oh, no ma'am. I am very much able to regulate my language for the sake of the kids…and their mom."

"That's good, because I wouldn't want to have to be the one to explain why her kids are screaming _ass_ every time they get a boo-boo."

The Lt. was silent for a few moments as he processed the seemingly instantaneous change in her mood. "Alright then. So, you got any ideas?"

She laughed, then shook her head and turned around to look at the punching bag again. "Yes, sir, I do. But let me finish up here, I'm almost finished with my usual training time." Then she went back to hitting the bag of sand for a few more moments.

Shane POV

_Damn, that woman is a piece of work._ He had gone all around the house looking for her when he realized that she wasn't in her room when he had found the door to the basement training room. Upon going down the stairs he had not only found her, but she seemed to be in sort of a trance in hitting the bag. She looked angry, scared, fierce, and sensual…all at the same time.

_Gah! Really need to stop thinking like that. She is the kids' aunt…if not by blood then in spirit, and she's Davy Boy's best friend. Think of her as a sister, yeah, that's it. Sister, sister, sister._

But when Shane had gone up behind her and startled her, he wasn't surprised that the Sgt. swung at him. No, it was the look in her eyes that scared him shitless for half a second. La-La Land, she had called it, but he didn't think that was the case. It was more like a Nightmare Wasteland if the way her face held such pain was anything to go by. It was like she actually wasn't there.

And the way they had cleared upon recognizing him…it worried him. Something was definitely off about her, and he intended to find out. That's what Navy S.E.A.L.s did best, right?

But he didn't have time to wonder with that now. It was time to wake the soldiers, and he intended for them to all be awake when he gave them their tracers.

Clara POV

It was kind of funny watching the Lt. giving the kids a lesson in how things were done military-style. Of course, Clara had no issue with it, but when he went and broke down Seth's door because he thought he had locked it to go back to bed was just a little over the line.

"Look, I can fix it with a hammer and a couple of nails-"

"What?! Are you nuts? Look at my door, it's busted in half! God, I can't believe this! What is wrong with you, you crazy ba-"

"Seth, watch your language!" Clara snapped from the top of the stairs.

"That's right. And if you had been wearing this, this wouldn't have happened." He snapped the tracker on Seth's wrist and walked off. As he passed Clara, he stopped for a moment and whispered, "And this is why I hate training new recruits." He cast a glance over his shoulder at the enraged teenager and stormed back down the stairs.

Clara sighed and bowed her head, silently cursing all the damn built up testosterone in the house. It was giving her the worst headache, and it was only gonna get worse if she didn't stop it.

"Seth?" she stepped over his door and into his room, "Honey, look, I know it's hard, with everything that's goin' on, but believe me when I say that Lt. Wolfe is only here to make sure you guys are alright."

"Why you are on his side all of the sudden?!" the young boy jumped up and faced her, his face red with anger. "You don't know a single thing that's gone on in this house in the past three years, Aunt Clara. You just left us for that stupid job, and now you're siding with the very guy that's gonna make our lives a living hell!"

"Hey! Watch your mouth when you talk to me, young man. I am not on _his_ side, I am on _your_ side. I have always been on your side. What I'm saying is that Lt. Wolfe was sent here to protect you guys…and so was I. All he's doin' is makin' sure that you guys are where you're supposed to be. What if someone where to take one of you and you were stupid enough to take off that bracelet? Hmm? I'll tell you what. We would have no idea where you were or how to get you back, and then we would take even longer to get you to safety.

"And I do, in fact, know what's been goin' on in this house, Seth, because I asked your mom and dad to keep me informed of anythin' that happened. Zoe too. Every time somethin' major happened in the family, she called or emailed me to tell me what was goin' on. I wanted to be here for you, I really did, but I had a job to do and I couldn't just up and leave without permission. And believe me when I say, that I did try to come back more often. You guys are my family, and I just want the best for you. But if you insist on givin' Lt. Wolfe a hard time about this, I can't stop any disciplinary action he takes, since your mother gave him permission to do whatever he had to.

"So, the next time you feel like calling someone a deserter, or blaming them for your unhappiness, I suggest you think _very _hard about it before you say _anything_."

And with that, she turned on her heel and marched back down the stairs to go see if she could find Shane and talk to him.

**A/N: Ok, yes, I know, I am updating pretty fast and my story is probably crapsauce. But, to be fair, I worked on it all through Christmas break without internet and then just updated all I had on here. Yes, I know you're probably wondering when I'll get back to my other stories, and I would like to tell you...I'M WORKING ON IT, SO DON'T HATE ME PLEEEEEEEEEASE! Anywho, hugs and cookies to all who read and review on the current chapters. **

**Luvs**

**AcaciaDawn.**


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